0
Bubu prasant Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
scaning solitary reaper
I am really confused while scanning this poem.
Behold her, single in the field,
[this one is clearly iambic tetrameter]
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
[is this iambic or trochaic? 'yon' is a problem for me.]
should it be YON/ SOLItari/HIGHland/ LASS [which makes it trochaic tetrameter]
OR yon SOLI/tari HIGH/land LASS/ [which makes it iambic trimeter]
Reaping and singing by herself;
[this is confusing]
Stop here, or gently pass!
[this is also confusing]
please help
thank you
Behold her, single in the field,
[this one is clearly iambic tetrameter]
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
[is this iambic or trochaic? 'yon' is a problem for me.]
should it be YON/ SOLItari/HIGHland/ LASS [which makes it trochaic tetrameter]
OR yon SOLI/tari HIGH/land LASS/ [which makes it iambic trimeter]
Reaping and singing by herself;
[this is confusing]
Stop here, or gently pass!
[this is also confusing]
please help
thank you
Top answer
Hello Bubu Prasant, I think it's wrong to think of each line as being in one or the other metre. Remember Wordsworth's comment about 'the language really used by men' in the preface to the Lyrical Ballads. 'The principal object, then, proposed in these Poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible in a selection of language really used by men' I know that The Solitary Reaper was written after the publication of the Lyrical Ballads, but it's written very much in their spirit as laid out in the preface.
- Hello Bubu Prasant, I think it's wrong to think of each line as being in one or the other metre.
- Remember Wordsworth's comment about 'the language really used by men' in the preface to the Lyrical Ballads.
- 'The principal object, then, proposed in these Poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, throughout, as far as was possible in a selection of language really used by men' I know that The Solitary Reaper was written after the publication of the Lyrical Ballads, but it's written very much in their spirit as laid out in the preface.
- The underlying rhythm in iambic, but the poem should surely be read, or heard in the mind's ear, in as natural a way as possible, so that the underlying iambs conflict in places against the natural rhythms of speech.
- Incidentally your YON/ SOLItari/HIGHland/ LASS would not be trochaic as you suggest.
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
1 Answers
0
Hello Bubu Prasant,
I think it's wrong to think of each line as being in one or the other metre. Remember Wordsworth's comment about 'the language really used by men' in the preface to the Lyrical Ballads.
'The principal object, then, proposed in these Poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, t
I think it's wrong to think of each line as being in one or the other metre. Remember Wordsworth's comment about 'the language really used by men' in the preface to the Lyrical Ballads.
'The principal object, then, proposed in these Poems was to choose incidents and situations from common life, and to relate or describe them, t
0
Related Questions